


Well, Would You Look at That

by The_Whistler



Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Shaphne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-23 13:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16619750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Whistler/pseuds/The_Whistler
Summary: Velma is fed up with the elephant in the room... a love triangle no one seems to realize they're part of. It was funny at first but it's about time someone admitted it so they can focus on sleuthing!





	Well, Would You Look at That

**Author's Note:**

> Begging your collective pardon... I know this is a Scooby Doo fic but I just can't seem to write lines for a talking dog.
> 
> Believe it or not, I didn't ship Shaphne as such. Never really thought about it. And then one night, I dreamed something very brief and vivid and woke up deciding it was a good ship. To that end, I have come up with this little fic, my first in the Scooby Doo fandom, to build up to the part I dreamed, which was vague and incomplete except for that one important moment...

"Shaggy! Scooby! Get ready, here he comes!"

The trap came down... and the ghost broke clean through and aimed straight for Shaggy.

"Like, why did I agree to do this, man?" Shaggy cried, turning to sprint down the hillside as the "ghost" zipped out after him.

Scooby howled and followed the pair at full gallop. Velma, Fred, and Daphne jumped out of their hiding places almost as one and jumped for the trailing sheet of the attacker, without success.

"What in the world is he doing?" Daphne wailed as they ran down the hill after them.

"Maybe he has a plan!" Fred cried.

"Fat chance!" Velma shouted. "He's panicking! And if he doesn't see the cliff edge in the dark, he's a goner!"

"Oh, no!" Daphne screamed, running ahead.

"How... how'd she get so fast?" Fred gasped as they tried to keep up.

Velma was too out of breath to sigh, but she did manage to roll her eyes as Daphne inevitably tripped and fell on her face. They stopped to scoop her up.

"Every time," Velma sighed.

"What's happening?" Daphne gasped. "Velma... where are they?"

They turned toward the cliff... in time to see Shaggy skid to a halt at the edge just a fraction of a second later than he should have.

It was as though time had slowed down. The ghost snatched at him as he slid over the edge. Shaggy made one last frantic grab at the cliff and caught a handful the ghost's winding sheet before disappearing from view. The ghost was yanked off balance and fell to the ground, scrabbling desperately for a handhold. Scooby stood by, tensed and snarling.

"He can't be..." Daphne whimpered. 

Velma gulped. Shaggy did always seem to get away. But that was a sheer cliff face. She'd taken a good look when they'd arrived. And she didn't relish seeing what lay at the bottom.

"Help me! He's pulling me after him!" cried the ghost.

"Come on!" Fred shouted. "We have to help!"

Velma and Daphne ran to grab the ghost, who was sliding slowly toward the edge. They each caught one hand and Fred caught him under the armpits and hauled.

The man slowly came away from the edge and the sheet after him. Velma expected to see Shaggy's hands appear, hanging onto the sheet, and took a breath to tell Daphne to be ready to grab him.

There was a ripping sound. The fabric went slack and they fell in a heap halfway on top of the ghost.

Daphne sat up and crawled to the cliff edge, peering over. Velma looked at her worriedly as Fred grabbed another loose strip of winding sheet and irritably hog-tied the ghost without bothering to unmask him.

Daphne screamed.

Before Velma could stop her, she'd jumped up and sprinted back to the house. They could hear her wails all the way.

So that was it. He'd fallen. He'd actually fallen this time...

Shaking, she pulled out her phone and called for the police. Scooby sat at the cliff edge, whimpering.

"Shaggy..." Fred whispered as he got to his feet. "The trap should have worked... Velma, what have we done?"

"Like... nothing, man. That's the trouble..." came a faint, weary voice.

"Shaggy!" they cried as one.

"Little help?" Shaggy rasped.

They carefully looked over the cliff and saw nothing. "Shaggy?" Fred called.

"Under the ledge! And, like, hurry, okay?"

Velma inched to one side and saw him at last, clinging to the side with his feet on a very narrow ledge, obscured only by the angle of the rocks and the dimness of the lighting. She felt a terrible urge to shout, "Inconceivable!"

Fred laid on his stomach and reached down. Velma helped him inch out far enough to get a grip on Shaggy's shaking hands and they laboriously helped him back up the cliff face, with Scooby pulling at the back of her sturdy tweed skirt while Velma thanked Tesla there was no one in a position to get a peek and that he'd only gotten a mouthful of skirt.

"Jinkies! I thought you were done for!" Velma said breathlessly as they all sat in a trembling pile of shaking muscles.

"Well, yeah, like, I figured he'd give up if I ran at the edge, then I could stop or turn or something. But he kept coming so I did too and...  I guess I was too fast. Like, too many years on the track team, huh? I figured out it had to be the gardener, though. See?"

Shaggy yanked the sheet off. It was the butler.

"Or not..." he said with a shrug.

"The gardener?" he shrieked. "He's an idiot! I planned this whole scheme! And I woulda gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for..."

"Shut up. No one asked," Fred snapped.

Velma snickered. "You okay, Freddie?"

"I guess! That was just way too close!"

"Wait... like, where's Daphne?" Shaggy asked.

"Oh! Right. She ran back to the house after you fell," Velma said.

"What? Why?"

Velma stared at him. She'd had just about enough of this. She could just come out and say it, but Daphne would be furious.

"Because _you_ _fell,_ stupid. You'd better go let her know you're alive."

"Good idea, Velma," Fred agreed. "She's such a soft-hearted kid sometimes."

Velma looked at him, one eyebrow raised. Some people needed a sledgehammer... "Yeah. She is."

Shaggy blinked twice and hurried up the hill. Velma stared after him. Surely this time it would sink in! She almost felt a little prickle of romance over it, but a cold wash of latent panic took care of that. It had been too close! And what was more, everyone pretty much assumed Daphne's heart belonged to Fred... everyone _including_ Fred.

"Freddie?" she said casually. "How close are you and Daphne?"

Fred rubbed his neck and grinned sheepishly. "Well, y'know..."

 _If that's the best you can say, then you really don't know._ Velma sighed and trotted up the hill to see whether this time they worked it all out.

"Hey! What am I supposed to do with this jerk?" Fred called.

"Hand him over when the cops get here."

She heard the screeching before she even got inside.

"Scared me to death! That's what you did! I saw you go over that cliff and..."

Velma stopped at the screen door and kept out of sight, peeking around just enough to see Shaggy staring in blind shock at the screaming little ball of ginger rage before him.

 _Daphne, don't blow this..._ Velma thought. She thought of leaving them to it and decided to stay in case Shaggy needed back-up.

"It was an accident! I nearly died! Like, why are you screaming at me?"

" _Because_ you nearly died you big... urgh!" Daphne squeaked.

"That doesn't make any sense!" he cried, frustrated. "Do I scream at you every time you get nabbed by some creep? Like, what about those cat people? You nearly got melted but no one screamed at you!"

His voice was shaking. Velma felt rather sorry for him but she had decided; she was staying out of this one. It felt a little weird to be snooping but the suspense was killing her...

"And you almost had your life sucked out!" she shouted accusingly.

"Yeah! And you're acting like I do this stuff on purpose or something! But who's the one who always says we should just get a pizza?"

"That's not the..." She trailed off. "Shaggy! You're bleeding!"

"What?"

Velma gasped and leaned around again to see. There was blood on his shirt. He pulled it up to reveal a nasty collection of gashes from the struggle up the cliff face. Blood trickled down to his waistband.

"Would you look at that... I thought I felt something sting me."

Daphne clapped her hands to her face. _"Sting you?_ Look at that!"

"It's just a couple of scratches..." Shaggy faltered, pressing the bottom of his shirt against the wounds.

Daphne burst into wracking sobs. Shaggy's eyes widened.

"Like... are you okay, Daph?" he asked apprehensively.

"I can't do this!" she cried. "Shaggy, you big idiot! After all this time... it's the same stupid thing as before! I-I can't just watch you risk your life and... and nearly die every stupid time Fred hatches a plan!"

She was back at it again. Velma looked back and forth between them, waiting for Shaggy to shout back.

Wait...

Shaggy was still staring at Daphne in wide-eyed astonishment. It was a change from his usual dull surprise... as though a light had gone on somewhere.

"I can't stand it... I just can't..." Daphne was sobbing.

Shaggy took a step closer, reaching out with his free hand to touch her shoulder. "It's alright... I'm okay. Really."

"Stop trying to die! You usually run away! Why didn't you run away?"

And still the strange look on his face, like a man seeing into the future. He moved still closer.

"Daphne..." he said softly. 

Their eyes locked. Velma nearly jumped out of her knee socks when Shaggy leaned down and kissed Daphne right on the mouth. Daphne spluttered a little, then melted and wrapped her arms around him. Velma sank back against the wall outside and let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally..." she breathed. "I swear... Ron and Hermione figured it out faster."

Then she saw Fred and Scooby coming up the path with the police. Oopsy.

She trotted down the hill to meet them. Scooby ran to her and nuzzled her side, and she took the opportunity to catch him by the collar.

"Not yet, big guy," she said softly as Scooby tugged toward the house. "Oh... hey, Freddie..." she said loudly. "Yeah, so, Daphne knows about Shaggy but she needs a minute so maybe we can talk out here..."

It wasn't very brightly lit inside... maybe he couldn't see. Fred blinked at Velma.

"But Shaggy's a witness. They need to take a statement..."

There was that. She couldn't just leave them inside making out... even if it was long overdue. And Fred needed to find out sooner rather than later...

"Freddie, look... I hate to say this here in front of the cops but..."

The screen door opened and Daphne walked out hand in hand with Shaggy. There were bloodstains on her dress that corresponded with the ones on his shirt... reversed, of course. Scooby bolted up the hill and started sniffing Shaggy over frantically, whining softly as he did so.

"There were injuries?" one of the cops asked. "Barry, get them to bring the bus up, we got casualties."

"Daphne!" Fred cried. "What... happened...?"

He seemed to have finally noticed they were holding hands.

"Oh... Oh, wow. Well... then..."

"Yeah," Velma murmured. "I didn't know how to tell you."

"I thought she was just... being friendly..." he said dully. "At first, I mean. But... looks like it's a little more serious."

"You okay, Freddie?" Velma asked softly as a police officer led Shaggy and Daphne to the ambulance.

"Yeah... I guess I just thought maybe... maybe the obvious was just my imagination."

"What? You _did_ notice!"

"Well, yeah! She kept talking about him during breaks back at the studio. I convinced myself she missed going around solving mysteries. Turns out she just missed Shaggy."

"Oh, I think she missed the mysteries, too..." Velma said. She had been enjoying them herself and wasn't keen on stopping so soon.

"I guess. But I also couldn't help noticing... I've been in danger loads of times and she laughs it off. But every time Shaggy was in the trap she'd give me dirty looks for days after..."

Velma chuckled. "And here I thought you were just a big dumb slab of muscle."

Fred smiled sheepishly. "I can't decide whether to be flattered or offended."

"A little of both," she joked. "So... you're okay with it?"

"I'll need a little time, but... yeah. I'll be okay."

He said that, but he didn't look like he owned it. Poor guy. But Velma had an idea what would cheer him up.

"Y'know," she said as they headed off to join the others, "I heard there's a school a couple of hours away that was built on the foundation of the previous one after it burned down, and that they're plagued by poltergeist activity because the old principal died in the fire."

Fred grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> So yes, basically I dreamed that Shaggy had been in danger and Daphne was worried sick and started bawling him out, then he got this kind of surprised look on his face and just kissed her because he realized why she was so upset.


End file.
